“Don’t go,” she pleads, her eyes wide.
I don’t want to, but I have no choice. “You know I have to go, Dani.”
“No, you don’t,” she snaps, her worry causing her ordinarily laid-back demeanor to be on edge. I don’t blame her. It’s never easy, and each time I come back it takes weeks to recover. I spend my days surly and my nights drunk. She spends hers cleaning up my messes and taking care of me, which is no easy task.
Blowing out a breath, I push to my feet and cross the distance between us in two long strides. Taking her by the shoulders, I pull her to my chest and hold her tight.
“I promise, this time won’t be like the others.” I try to reassure her, but even I’m not entirely convinced.
Even though I’d spoken to Grace last night, I still had more questions than answers. I was on pins and needles, waiting for her to come home and explain what was going on. It went against every fiber of my being to give her the space she’d requested, but I understand her need to work things out herself first.
Just knowing that I had Grace to come home to had me convinced that this trip wouldn’t be like the others. Unlike all the other times, I had something and someone to come home to. Grace made the bad times easier, the good times better. I didn’t want to waste any of our time together in a depression-induced haze. I wouldn’t subject her to my misery, because she deserved the best version of me. I may not know what exactly that was yet, but I was working on it.
Dani loops her arms around my waist and squeezes tight, pressing her face into my chest. I hug her back, holding her for as long as she needs. There was a time in our lives when her touch would cause me to recoil. I would pull away, the contact more than I could stand. Or worse, say something nasty, forcing her to stop trying. Which she had, time and again, only to come back even more determined to forge a relationship with me.
Even as recently as a few months ago I would have taken this fight between us and her desire to help me and twisted it into something ugly.
I wasn’t worthy of love. I was only deserving of misery. Or so I’d been told. And when you’re told something enough, it begins to feel like fact.
But then Grace had blown into my life and calmed the stormy sea that I’d become. I’ll be damned if I was ever going to go back to the person I was before she strutted into my life.
Still squeezing my waist, Dani tilts her head back, her eyes searching my face. “I’ll go with you.”
Shaking my head, I protest. “Not a chance.”
The day is hard enough on me, there’s no way I’m going to subject her to that. She may be older than me, and we may not have always seen eye to eye, but I still feel the need to protect her. There are so many things that I can’t save her from, but this is definitely one of them.
She lets go of my waist, her hands flying to her hips, and comically stomps a foot. “You can’t tell me that I can’t go!”
“The hell I can’t.”
Her eyes narrow and she snaps. “I’m not kidding!”
Holding my hands up, I shrug. “Sorry, Dani. But, no. You’re not going with me.”
Her eyes are still narrowed as she pushes past me and pulls open the door to my refrigerator. She scans the contents, her mouth tipped down in a frown. Not bothering to turn, she asks over her shoulder, “When was the last time you ate something other than frozen pizza and beer?”
I sigh and prop a hip on the bar stool, my forearms resting on the counter. “It’s been a while.”
She grabs a bottle of water from the fridge, the only non-alcoholic beverage that’s in there, and slams the door before leaning against it. “Let’s grab breakfast when we get on the road.”
I roll my eyes but don’t protest. I don’t have the energy to argue with her anymore and there’s no point in trying anyway. When Dani Williams makes up her mind about something, there’s nothing that anyone can do to change it.
I smile, realizing how alike she and Grace are. It’s no wonder I fell for Grace. She reminds me of the one woman in my life that’s always been there. Stubborn and strong.
Grace had been gone for five days and I fucking missed her.
I hadn’t realized how much a part of my everyday life she had become until she wasn’t there. The nights that she wasn’t perched on a stool at the end of my bar had been long and boring. When she wasn’t reading she was watching me with a small smile on her face or teasing the regulars.
Even some of the old timers had asked about her, wanting to know where she was, and then accusing me of running her off. Not that they blamed her, they would joke, she was way too pretty for me anyhow. And they were right, those cranky old bastards.
I chuckle to myself, shaking my head, wondering how the fuck I got so lucky.
“What’s so funny?” Dani asks, interrupting my thoughts.
I roll my shoulders and stand, grabbing my truck keys from the counter. “Nothing. If you’re gonna buy us breakfast, we better get going.”
Her face splits into a triumphant grin and I point a finger at her. “Oh, don’t get all cocky. I’m only letting you come because I’m hungry and you’re buying.”
She follows me through the door of the boat, and I help her onto the dock. Looping her arm through mine, she beams at me. “I like this Bronn.”
My brows knit and I ask, “What Bronn?”
With a laugh she chirps, “Oh, you know. The one that’s finally experienced the love of a good woman. And knows that the way to keep the lovin’ is to keep her happy.” She winks. “Cause it’s not just Grace you’re giving in to these days.”
I can’t even fault her for her assessment of me, because it’s one hundred percent correct. I was willing to do just about anything to keep Grace happy.
As long as that meant I got to keep her.